I was looking at the calendar today, and I’m a bit sad that my kids only have 3 more weeks of school left after this week! They are really going to miss their teachers and friends this summer. Where did the time go?

I haven’t really been looking forward to X week at school. I took the lazy way out and broke out the Halloween cutters for this one. I decided on a skull since it was the closest thing to a skeleton without me having to cut out bones at 10pm! At 2 and 4, the only things my girls know that begins with X are an X-ray and a xylophone.

So a cheater’s x-ray it is for both. Miss G’s skull x-ray is on Ezekiel bread with Justin’s Almond butter and jam. She has the tomatoes on either side which she has helped plant, water and grow. She could eat bowls of the small tomatoes so she’s enjoying her crops. Separated by an octopous baran are cauliflower and a carrot X in between. At the top right are blueberries with a watermelon X and below are sliced mangoes with a fruit leather X on top packed in her Easy Lunch Box.

Miss A has a smaller version with the same skull x-ray sandwich. Hers is surrounded by mini carrots. At the top left are mango pieces with a fruit leather X on top and to the right are 2 picks of blueberries made into an X surrounded by watermelon triangles.

So the Bento Blog Network is having Hello Kitty week. I put in a lunch from last year, but I am overdue for a Hello Kitty lunch considering how crazy Miss G is over her. This one would have been fabulous had I put it together last night. Since I did it in a rush this morning I had to patch a few botched cheese oopsies. The actual sandwich is cut from a circle biscuit cutter on Rudi’s 14 Grain Bread with almond butter & jam. The cheese for Hello Kitty’s face is Veggy brand “Mozzarella” cheese made from soy. It tastes just like cheese to me but it’s a lot more fragile to cut than real cheese (hence the tearing). I used a template and a tiny paring knife to cut her face out. The bow underneath was a bit mangled so I made a new one of a raisin in the middle and 2 Craisins for the outside. The whiskers are fruit leather strips poked into her face to stay. The top left cup has watermelon and strawberry flowers and the top right cup has spinach leaves for garnish, blueberries underneath and a plum slice flower.

Little Miss A has been a super picky eater as of late. The terrible 2s have really set in with her. She’s come out of her little shell chucking food and climbing furniture like a pro these days. Appropriately she gets a little monster today for lunch. On the right side are quinoa veggie curl pasta with eggplant meatballs. His eyes & nose are made from the same Veggy “cheese” slice, his mouth is a crinkle cut mini carrot and above his eyes are Daiya vegan “cheese” shreds. On the left are watermelon and strawberry flowers packed in her polar bear bento box by Gel-Cool.

Happy Valentine’s Day! It was a very long night in the kitchen last night for me. I decided to make a special dinner for the family…which the kids hated and wouldn’t eat. Sound familiar? I wanted to make red pasta for them. I bought a bunch of beets at the local market. I washed, peeled and grated them. Then I cooked them in a small amount of coconut oil and minced garlic. I added them to cooked pasta with some of the pasta water & stirred until the color bled into all the pasta. I left the shredded beets in the pasta. Next time for the kids, I’ll probably remove them & eat separately. I also made a cream sauce with coconut milk, Daiya “cheese” and garlic that was easy & tasty.

I also made purple cauliflower sauteed and carmelized which the kids also didn’t like. At least my husband and I liked it and the kids did try it!

The next project was rice krispie treats for Miss G’s class.

And last and certainly not least were the lunches. My husband even got a special lunch today in his new Easy Lunch Box container. A spinach salad with cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. Raspberries and heart shaped strawberries are in the top right and the bottom right was the leftover beet pasta with garlic.

Little G had to have Cupid explained to her. It is sort of funny to tell her why a fat baby shoots arrows at people. She thought it was silly. Cupid is on whole grain bread with Biscoff spread (thanks Keeley McGuire Blog for the tip) and jam. I used the leftover beet pasta for the hair even though she won’t eat it. Above is a heart container with a tiny bit of dip in it for the carrots. The bow is made of fruit leather and the pick is the arrow. On the top right are picks of raspberries and a strawberry. On the bottom right at the bottom are mini carrots, a heart shaped plum, kissing strawberry birds, a strawberry heart and a heart shaped mango in her Easy Lunch Box.

Little A had her mini version of cupid. She barely ever gets picks. She just turned 2 so very often I find objects in her mouth just for fun. Cupid has a bow and no hair on her version with a fruit leather bow and carrot arrow. Above in her LunchBots container are strawberries, a plum and a mango heart. Both girls have ice water with their lunches.

We’re off school next week and headed out of town so I have to get my Thanksgiving lunches done in the next couple of days. This one was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Just a soy butter and jelly on whole wheat with a carrot beak, fruit leather waddle and candy eyes. His feathers are apple and carrot slices. Raspberries are to the left and heirloom grape tomatoes are in the squirrel cup. Also included are an applesauce, Lifeway berry kefir & ice water.

Little sis gets some fall festive sandwiches in turkey, pumpkin & acorn shapes with just turkey inside. Colby Jack cheese leaves are above with raspberries. Also included in her lunch are Craisins, and applesauce, Lifeway berry kefir and ice water too. Both girls’ lunches are packed in LunchBots stainless containers.